


can't we just talk?

by lostin_space



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fluff, M/M, Post-High School
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:21:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28948836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: “Hey,” Michael said, trying to casually throw one of the oranges up in the air. He very not casually missed it and watched in horror as it fell into Alex’s book. Though, he supposed that was better than actually hitting Alex with it.“Hey to you too."
Relationships: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes
Comments: 19
Kudos: 85





	can't we just talk?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [manesalex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/manesalex/gifts).



> happy birthday molly!!! enjoy nebulous well-adjusted alternate universe alex and michael sitting under a tree and eating oranges

“Just go over there.”

“What? No! That’s weird.”

“ _ How?” _

Michael shrugged Isobel off his shoulder and looked back at his sketchpad that was a spaceship design he was beginning to think wouldn’t work. However, his eyes drifted back up and over to where Alex was sitting under a tree by himself with a book in hand. It was almost too picturesque to be true. But there he was.

“I barely know the guy,” Michael said. He still bit into his thumb as he watched Alex stretch his neck by leaning his head to one shoulder and then the other.  _ What the fuck.  _

“What do you mean you barely know the guy? You sat next to him for four years and talked to him nearly every day,” Isobel scoffed. Michael rolled his eyes. “Plus I know you have a thing for him.”

“I do  _ not  _ have a‒”

“You’re a lot of things, but a good liar isn’t one of them,” Isobel said. Michael glared at her, but she grinned as she reached into her picnic basket and pulled out two oranges. “Go offer him one.”

“I don’t want to interrupt him. What if he’s super into his book?” Michael asked.

“Michael, it’s now or never. You’re about to go to college. Might as well try to get laid before you go by the hot emo kid,” Isobel said, handing him the oranges and then nodding over at him. He really, really did not want to bother him.

And yet he really,  _ really  _ did.

So, with the constant reminder that he was going to be leaving town relatively soon and if this went horribly he could just forget it ever happened, he made his way over to Alex Manes.  _ The worst thing that could happen is he says no. Or laughs in your face. Or spits on you.  _

“Hey,” Michael said, trying to casually throw one of the oranges up in the air. He very not casually missed it and watched in horror as it fell into Alex’s book. Though, he supposed that was better than actually hitting Alex with it. 

“Hey to you too,” Alex laughed, looking up at him with a brighter smile than he’d had in probably all of high school. It was almost jarring. “You want this back?”

“I was gonna offer it to you, but I guess it already decided it belonged to you,” Michael said.  _ Play it cool. _

“Oh,” Alex said, folding the corner to mark his page before closing his book and readjusting to sit up straight. “Did you wanna… like, sit with me? Or are you busy, ‘cause‒”

“I’ll sit,” Michael said and did his best not to think too far into it. Namely hoping not to think about the fact that Isobel was probably making embarrassing facial expressions behind him.

Michael sat criss-cross beside Alex and dug his thumb into his orange, ripping the rind off in pieces. He was perfectly content doing that until he heard Alex laughing under his breath. When he looked up, he saw Alex half-way through peeling the orange in one long strip.

“What the fuck, how are you doing that?” Michael asked, scooting closer without even thinking.

“It’s easy, you just sort of use your thumb to make a little circle around the top right here and then slowly guide it,” Alex said, his long fingers twisting the orange in his hands as he continued to peel it, “Less messy.”

“Man, didn’t know you were gonna make me seem so dumb just by sitting near you for five seconds,” Michael teased. Alex rolled his eyes and nudged his knee into Michael’s.

“You’re one of the smartest people I’ve ever met, you’re just impatient when it comes to orange peeling, I guess,” Alex said. Michael bit back a smile.

“Oh yeah? Well, you’re pretty smart too.”

“ _ I’m  _ not the one who got a full ride to UNM,” Alex pointed out. Michael raised an eyebrow.

“You heard about that?”

“Yeah, I never got the chance to say congrats. So… congrats,” Alex said, gently putting the single long strip of orange peel down on the ground and plucking out a wedge.

“Thanks,” Michael said, “So, uh, are you going to college? Or are you doing something else? Gonna go busk in LA, maybe?”

Alex shrugged, taking a bite out of the wedge before his tongue swiped over his bottom lip to catch any juice. If Michael’s brain short circuited for a moment, it managed to go unnoticed. Who allowed someone who looked like that to just exist in everyday life? He seemed unreal.

“Still weighing my options,” Alex said, looking over at Michael with mirth in his eyes, “But don’t be surprised if you see me around campus, okay?”

Michael straightened up a bit and his eyes widened. “Oh. Awesome. That’s‒We should, like, get coffee together.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed, nodding his head, “We should.”

Michael felt like his body was on fire as he watched Alex take another bite all while thinking of casually getting  _ coffee _ with him on a college campus. That was straight out of a YA novel. That was so  _ normal.  _ Could he be normal with Alex? Could he actually have that? 

“Maybe, um,” Alex said, shrugging again, “If you’re free, we could get coffee together before? Like… tomorrow, if you’re not busy?”

Michael stared at him for a moment, lips parted as he processed what he was saying. Coffee. Together. On purpose. Tomorrow. When Alex glanced back up at him, he was smiling still. All wide and pretty and impressive and what the fuck.

“Like, for real?”

“What do you  _ mean?  _ Yeah, for real,” Alex said, laughing warmly. Surely Michael was melting into the grass by now.

“Like… a date?” Michael asked. Alex looked back down at his orange as his cheeks turned a shade of red.

“I mean, yeah, if you want.”

“Yes!” Michael said a little too loudly, “I mean, yeah, sure, sounds cool.”

“You’re such a dork,” Alex laughed, grabbing one of his ripped off pieces of orange peel and throwing it at him.

“Hey, don’t  _ throw  _ things at me,” Michael said, throwing a different piece at him. 

Alex’s laughter grew as he threw another piece and then another, another, until he called a ceasefire.

“Okay! White flag,” Alex told him. Michael held up his hands in surrender, though his heart was going wild in his chest. Four years sitting next to Alex and it’d never felt this easy. Was that what came with a date with him? How many was he going to get? “You haven’t even eaten any of your orange yet.”

And before he could even process it, Alex held out an orange wedge. Michael raised his hand to grab it from him, but Alex tilted his head and raised an eyebrow as if that’s not what he was suggesting. Slowly, to make sure he wasn’t completely wrong, Michael leaned forward and opened his mouth. Then Alex pushed it past his lips, the pads of his fingers touching them before he moved his hand to Michael’s jaw to make him close his mouth. That was enough to make his brain  _ actually  _ stop functioning.

“Are you gonna chew or are you planning on choking?” Alex asked softly. Michael slowly started to remember how to eat and chewed slowly, eyes never leaving Alex’s.

He waited until he swallowed it to speak, thankfully.

“I really wanna get coffee with you. More than once,” he said. Alex smiled.

“Good. Because so do I.”

By the time Alex had to leave for his shift at the UFO Emporium, Michael was ready to bow down to Isobel for making him go over there in the first place.

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](https://spaceskam.tumblr.com/)


End file.
